I (Y)am The Genius

February 23, 2007 3:09 PM

Yoshiro Nakamatsu aka Dr. NakaMats has invented everything, other than all the other stuff that the rest of us have invented. He has 3218 patents to his name. (Edison had 1093.) Among his many inventions? The compact disc, the compact disc player ('natch), the digital watch, a unique golf putter, the floppy disk (!), and a water-powered engine. Besides being the founder of the World Genius Convention (where the world first learned of ingenuity of ADR ceramic disks, for instance), Dr. NakaMats was voted by the US Science Academic Society as one of five greatest scientists in history - in the company of Archimedes, Michael Faraday, Marie Curie, and Nikola Tesla - and he plans to live until 144!
posted by humannaire (27 comments total)

[This is supar]
posted by grobstein at 3:12 PM on February 23, 2007

There was a blurb about this guy in mental floss a few months ago I think.
posted by nathancaswell at 3:15 PM on February 23, 2007

Somebody's just asking for an ironic death at age 143, 12 months, and 30 days.
posted by Astro Zombie at 3:16 PM on February 23, 2007

and he plans to live until 144!

Genius he may well be, but somebody should give that man a calendar.
posted by rob511 at 3:16 PM on February 23, 2007

So... he managed to get Japanese patents on a bunch of stuff that was already invented (and largely commercialized) and then claimed to be some kind of genius? And now he has a book that tells you how he's a genius. Great.
posted by rxrfrx at 3:17 PM on February 23, 2007

It sad that I knew who Howard K. Stern was before this man.
posted by skepticallypleased at 3:17 PM on February 23, 2007

Brainstorming — from the interview:

Is there a secret to becoming an inventor? How do you come up with new ideas?
I am teaching philosophy at the University of Tokyo and this image (above right) shows my theory: the “Pagoda of Creativity”. The base for everything is a strong spirit, followed by a strong body, hard studies, experience and finally leads to a “trigger” experience. You “trigger” a bullet which contains spirit, body, study and experience - and finally that releases the actual invention.

How do you ‘trigger’ an invention?
A lack of oxygen is very important.

A lack? Isn’t that dangerous?
It’s very dangerous. I get that Flash just 0.5 sec before death. I remain under the surface until this trigger comes up and I write it down with a special waterproof plexiglas writing pad I invented.

If public education would start teaching this method early on, we'd never have to build another school, college, or university.
posted by cenoxo at 3:25 PM on February 23, 2007

Total crock. I Am A Scientist, and this "US Science Academic Society" well...it's made up, as far as I can tell. Come on, it even sounds like something made up by a non-native English speaker. All of the top Google hits link to stories about Nakamatsu himself. Odd, no? If the AAAS had bestowed this honor on the other hand, I wouldn't be of the opinion that Dr. Nakamatsu is full of shit. But as it stands he's definitely, absolutely full of shit.

Do two "this-is-fake" posts in a row make me a pessimist?
posted by StrangerInAStrainedLand at 3:33 PM on February 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

According to wikipedia, the inventor of the laser disk (Which the CD was based on) was David Paul Gregg, and the inventor of the flopy disk was invented at IBM by Alan Shugart and David Noble.
posted by delmoi at 3:39 PM on February 23, 2007

Winner of the 2005 Ig Nobel Prize for Nutrition: "Dr. Yoshiro Nakamats of Tokyo, Japan, for photographing and retrospectively analyzing every meal he has consumed during a period of 34 years (and counting)."
posted by cenoxo at 3:40 PM on February 23, 2007

Hee, actually, ALL the google hits pretty much are in reference to Nakamatsu's claim.
posted by Atreides at 3:43 PM on February 23, 2007

Somebody's just asking for an ironic death at age 143, 12 months, and 30 days.

...Which would make him 144 and 30 days. Please insert quarter and try again.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:48 PM on February 23, 2007

Oh snap. Is the title of this post a reference to JP on the fake Segway in Grandma's Boy?
posted by nathancaswell at 3:49 PM on February 23, 2007

the inventor of the flopy disk was invented at IBM by Alan Shugart and David Noble

But who invented Alan Shugart and David Noble?
posted by staggernation at 3:57 PM on February 23, 2007

Actually I invented Alan Shugart and David Noble. I have the patents around to prove it, if only I could find them.
posted by magikker at 4:13 PM on February 23, 2007

Dr. Nakamatsu is pretty famous here in Japan, but not as a hard-hitting scientist/inventor, but the inventor of things like bow-spring shoes for jumping up and down on, and other toys and cheapie doodads.
posted by Bugbread at 4:14 PM on February 23, 2007

If you say "Dr. Nakamatsu" to a Japanese, this is probably the first thing they think of.
posted by Bugbread at 4:15 PM on February 23, 2007

Frawless Victoly!
posted by anticlock at 4:37 PM on February 23, 2007

Michael Faraday would hold this guy down while Tesla and Archimedes took turns kicking his ass. Marie Curie wouldn't get physically involved, but she would probably put something in his drink that ensured that, while he might not live to 144, his eerie glow certainly would.
posted by quin at 4:48 PM on February 23, 2007

bugbread, like fellow Ig Noble laureate Ron Popeil? [photo, TV bio]
posted by cenoxo at 5:22 PM on February 23, 2007

I fail to see how this fellow finishes ahead of other scientists in the top five... like, oh, this guy.

Or, hell, waving the banner for the home squad, this guy.
posted by docgonzo at 7:29 PM on February 23, 2007

SARCASM
posted by dminor at 10:02 PM on February 23, 2007

Faraday Cage Match!
posted by quin at 12:23 AM on February 24, 2007

and he plans to live until 144!

That's simply gross...
posted by michswiss at 4:28 AM on February 24, 2007

Hold up, water-powered engine?
posted by bonaldi at 9:15 AM on February 24, 2007

A fraud, and a nutcase.
Nakamatsu:
Yes. Twice a day I take thirty-minute naps in a special chair I've designed-the Cerebrex chair. It improves memory, math skills, and creativity, and it can lower blood pressure, improve eyesight, and cure other ailments.
posted by uni verse at 10:20 AM on February 24, 2007

Winner of the 2005 Ig Nobel Prize for Nutrition: "Dr. Yoshiro Nakamats of Tokyo, Japan, for photographing and retrospectively analyzing every meal he has consumed during a period of 34 years (and counting)."

My stepmother had dinner with him, over the course of several evenings (a traditional Japanese business deal?) and absolutely confirmed the above statement. Odd.
posted by vaportrail at 7:24 PM on February 25, 2007